Preamble design for a wireless signal

ABSTRACT

Providing for management of wireless communications in a heterogeneous wireless access point (AP) environment is described herein. By way of example, system data of an over-the-air message can be configured to include information identifying a distinct type of transmitting base station. In some aspects, the information can include an access type of the base station and/or a sector ID for distinguishing the base station among large numbers of other base stations. According to other aspects, the information can include wireless channel resources designated for a particular type of base station, or blanked by the transmitting base station, to facilitate interference reduction on such resources. By employing aspects of wireless communication management disclosed herein, efficient and reliable communication can be affected in large heterogeneous AP networks.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119

The present Application for patent claims priority to the following U.S.Provisional Applications

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/988,665 entitled FEMTO PREAMBLEDESIGN filed Nov. 16, 2007;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/028,497 entitled ADAPTIVE ALGORITHMSFOR INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT MESSAGING WITH INTER-SECTOR FAIRNESS IN AWIRELESS NETWORK filed Feb. 13, 2008;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/988,720 entitled FEMTO PREAMBLEDESIGN filed Nov. 16, 2007;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/025,670 entitled AIR-INTERFERENCEAND BACKHAUL SIGNALING APPROACHES FOR INTERFERENCE AVOIDANCE MESSAGESfiled Feb. 1, 2008; and

U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/047,021 entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODSTO ENABLE AIR-INTERFERENCE AND BACKHAUL SIGNALING FOR INTERFERENCEAVOIDANCE MESSAGES filed Apr. 22, 2008, each of which are assigned tothe assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by referenceherein.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT

The present application for patent is related to the followingco-pending U.S. patent applications:

“SECTOR INTERFERENCE MANAGEMENT BASED ON INTER-SECTOR PERFORMANCE” byAamod Khandekar et al., having Attorney Docket No. 080823, filedconcurrently herewith, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expresslyincorporated by reference herein;

“PREAMBLE DESIGN FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL” by Aamod Khandekar et al.,having Attorney Docket No. 080269, filed concurrently herewith, assignedto the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by reference herein;

“BACKHAUL SIGNALING FOR INTERFERENCE AVOIDANCE” by Aamod Khandekar etal., having Attorney Docket No. 080694, filed concurrently herewith,assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by referenceherein;

“PREAMBLE DESIGN FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL” by Aamod Khandekar et al.,having Attorney Docket No. 080278U1, filed concurrently herewith,assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by referenceherein; and

“PREAMBLE DESIGN FOR A WIRELESS SIGNAL” by Aamod Khandekar et al.,having Attorney Docket No. 080278U3, filed concurrently herewith,assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated by referenceherein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and morespecifically to preamble design of a wireless signal facilitatingreduced interference for semi-planned or unplanned wireless accessnetworks.

2. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as, e.g., voice content, datacontent, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems can bemultiple-access systems capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems can includecode division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multipleaccess (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA)systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems,and the like.

Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems cansimultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Eachmobile device can communicate with one or more base stations viatransmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobiledevices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communicationsbetween mobile devices and base stations can be established viasingle-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output(MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and soforth.

Wireless messages are typically sub-divided in time, frequency,according to codes, and so on, to convey information. For instance, inan ultra mobile broadband (UMB) system, forward link messages compriseat least one time superframe (e.g., of 25 millisecond length) segmentedinto one superframe preamble and several time frames. The preamblecarries acquisition and control information, while the various othertime frames carry traffic, such as voice information pertinent to avoice call, data packets pertinent to a data call or data session, orthe like. Acquisition information can be utilized by mobile terminalswithin a given mobile network sector to identify transmitting basestations within the sector. Control channel information providescommands and other instructions for decoding received signals.

In UMB, a superframe preamble comprises eight orthogonal frequencydivision multiplex (OFDM) symbols. The first symbol typically carries aforward primary broadcast control channel (F-PBCCH) and the next foursymbols can carry a forward secondary broadcast control channel(F-SBCCH) and forward quick paging channel (P-QPCH). The F-PBCCH andF-SBCCH typically provide initial configuration information required byterminals entering a UMB system. For instance, the F-PBCCH channel mightcarry deployment-wide configuration information that is common acrosssectors, while the F-SBCCH might carry sector-specific configurationinformation. The F-QPCH can carry quick pages which are used to directidle mode terminals to read a page and open a connection if a page isreceived.

The last three OFDM symbols of the UMB preamble can carry acquisitionpilot information. The first of these three symbols typically carries asector-independent signal used to determine the existence of a UMBsystem and to acquire initial timing and frequency. A second,sector-dependent signal can be utilized to determine identity of atransmitting sector and/or base station. A third signal, alsosector-dependent, can carry information used to determine initial systemparameters such as whether the system is synchronous or asynchronous,what time division duplex (TDD) partition to use, and so on.

While the foregoing describes a preamble for a UMB system, various othermobile communication systems also utilize channel preambles, or similarstructures, for signaling, acquisition, control or like wirelesscommunication functions. Specifically, a preamble can carrysynchronization and/or acquisition pilots, control information enablinga remote terminal to search for a sector at power-up, determine initialparameters of a sector necessary for making handoff decisions,establishing communication with a network, and demodulating non-controlchannels. Other functions can include specifying formats of trafficchannels for some wireless systems. Typically, a preamble is set apartfrom a traffic-related portion of a wireless signal to facilitatedistinction of application-related information and control informationat a receiver. Thus, the receiver can monitor control portions toidentify whether a signal contains traffic pertinent to a receivingdevice, without having to monitor the traffic portions themselves.Because the control portion is typically only a small fraction of thetotal signal, receiver devices can significantly reduce processingrequirements and power consumption by monitoring a signal preamble todetermine whether relevant information is contained in the signal.Employing control channels for wireless signaling therefore leads tomore effective communication, as well as improved mobility by extendingbattery life for mobile devices.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The subject disclosure provides for management of wirelesscommunications in a heterogeneous wireless access point (AP)environment. A preamble transmitted by an AP (e.g., a base station [BS])can comprise information identifying a distinct type of the AP. In someaspects, the information can include a bit indicating arestricted/unrestricted access type of the AP. Accordingly, a terminalreceiving the preamble can determine whether to communicate with the APas a serving AP, include the AP in an active set for handoffdeterminations, consider signals sent by the AP as noise, or the like.In another aspect, the information can include a unique sector ID of theAP, which can identify the AP even in a wireless access network (AN)having hundreds or thousands of APs. Alternatively, or in addition, theinformation can include a semi-unique sector ID that is distinct atleast within a tracking area, routing area or frequency band of thewireless AN. In at least one aspect of the subject disclosure, theunique or semi-unique ID can comprise a distinct value of a 64-bit code.According to still other aspects, the information can include wirelesschannel resources blanked by the AP, to facilitate interferencereduction on such resources. By employing aspects of wirelesscommunication management disclosed herein, efficient and reliablecommunication can be affected in large heterogeneous AP networks.

According to further aspects of the subject disclosure, provided is amethod of wireless communication. The method can comprise generating apreamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overheadinformation pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal. Themethod can further comprise including information within the preamblethat provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

In other aspects, disclosed is an apparatus that facilitates wirelesscommunication. The apparatus can comprise a communication processor thatgenerates a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprisesnetwork overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wirelesssignal. Additionally, the apparatus can comprise a context module thatincludes information within the preamble that provides a unique orsemi-unique sector ID for the BS.

According to still other aspects, provided is an apparatus for wirelesscommunication. The apparatus can comprise means for generating apreamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overheadinformation pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal. Further,the apparatus can comprise means for including information within thepreamble that provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

According to one or more other additional aspects, disclosed is at leastone processor configured for wireless communication. The processor(s)can comprise a first module configured to generate a preamble for awireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead informationpertinent to a base station (BS) transmitting the wireless signal. Theprocessor(s) can further comprise a second module configured to includeinformation within the preamble that provides a unique or semi-uniquesector ID for the BS.

According to at least one further aspect, provided is a computer programproduct comprising a computer-readable medium. The computer-readablemedium can comprise a first set of codes for causing a computer togenerate a preamble for a wireless signal, the preamble comprisesnetwork overhead information pertinent to a BS transmitting the wirelesssignal. Furthermore the computer-readable medium can comprise a secondset of codes for causing the computer to include information within thepreamble that provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.

In addition to the foregoing, provided is a method of facilitatingwireless communication. The method can comprise obtaining a wirelesssignal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN and scanning one ormore portions of the wireless signal for system data. The method canfurther comprise extracting a unique or semi-unique sector ID from thesystem data.

According to further aspects, disclosed is an apparatus that facilitateswireless communication. The apparatus can comprise a receiver thatobtains a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN.The apparatus can additionally comprise a data processor that scans oneor more portions of the wireless signal for a signal preamble andextracts a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

In at least one other aspect, disclosed is an apparatus configured tofacilitate wireless communication. The apparatus can comprise means forobtaining a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless ANand means for scanning one or more portions of the wireless signal forsystem data. Furthermore, the apparatus can comprise means forextracting a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

According to other aspects, provided is at least one processorconfigured to facilitate wireless communication. The processor(s) cancomprise a first module configured to obtain a wireless signal from anon-serving sector of a wireless AN and a second module configured toscan one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data.Moreover, the processor can comprise a third module configured toextract a unique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

According to still other aspects, disclosed is a computer programproduct comprising a computer-readable medium. The computer-readablemedium can comprise a first set of codes for causing a computer toobtain a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN.Additionally, the computer-readable medium can comprise a second set ofcodes for causing the computer to scan one or more portions of thewireless signal for system data. Moreover, the computer-readable mediumcan comprise a third set of codes for causing the computer to extract aunique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects ofthe one or more aspects. These aspects are indicative, however, of but afew of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects canbe employed and the described aspects are intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that provideswireless communication in accordance with aspects set forth herein.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example communication apparatus foremployment with a wireless communication environment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system comprising aheterogeneous access network (AN) according to aspects of the subjectdisclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example transmission apparatusfor configuring a wireless signal preamble according to additionalaspects.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of example wireless signals comprisingblanked portions according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example system comprising abase station configured for a heterogeneous AN according to additionalaspects.

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an example system comprising a mobileterminal configured to facilitate improved communication in aheterogeneous AN.

FIGS. 8 and 8A illustrate flowcharts of examples methodologies forproviding improved wireless communication in heterogeneous AP networks.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of a sample methodology for providingimproved mobility or interference management in wireless communications.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a sample methodology for accessing BSinformation from a wireless signal according to some aspects disclosedherein.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart of an example methodology for implementingimproved mobility or interference management according to furtheraspects.

FIGS. 12 and 12A illustrate block diagrams of example systems thatprovide wireless sector information for improved wirelesscommunications.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system that employs BSaccess type or ID information to improve wireless data exchange.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of one or more aspects. It can be evident, however, thatsuch aspect(s) can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate describing one or more aspects.

In addition, various aspects of the disclosure are described below. Itshould be apparent that the teaching herein can be embodied in a widevariety of forms and that any specific structure and/or functiondisclosed herein is merely representative. Based on the teachings hereinone skilled in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed hereincan be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two ormore of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, anapparatus can be implemented and/or a method practiced using any numberof the aspects set forth herein. In addition, an apparatus can beimplemented and/or a method practiced using other structure and/orfunctionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspectsset forth herein. As an example, many of the methods, devices, systemsand apparatuses described herein are described in the context ofemploying a signal preamble to identify a type of base stationtransmitting a wireless signal. One skilled in the art should appreciatethat similar techniques could apply to other communication environments.

As utilized herein, a preamble of a wireless transmission is a signalingmessage that provides pilot and/or control channel information forterminals served by a neighboring base station (or, e.g., any terminalnot served by a base station transmitting the wireless transmission).The neighboring terminals can demodulate the preamble to obtainoperating data pertinent to the transmitting base station. Accordingly,as utilized herein, a preamble is distinct from serving cell wirelesstransmissions, including broadcast or unicast transmissions, comprisingdata for terminals served by the transmitting base station. Serving celltransmissions are demodulated by terminals served by the serving cell,to implement mobile operations such as paging, location tracking,handoff, voice and/or data services, and so on.

Planned deployments of wireless access points (APs) in a wireless accessnetwork (AN) typically consider position, spacing andtransmission/receive characteristics of transceiver devices. One goal ofplanned deployment is to reduce interference among transmitters. Thus,for instance, two base stations might be spaced apart a distance similarto a maximum transmit range of their respective transmitters.Accordingly, interference from one base station at the other can beminimized.

In unplanned or semi-planned AP deployments, wireless transmitters areoften not spaced considering their transmit power, transmit direction,or like characteristics. Instead, it might not be unusual for two ormore similarly transmitting APs (e.g., that transmit into substantially360 degrees) to be in close proximity of each other. Furthermore, inheterogeneous transmit power environments, a high power AP (e.g., macrocell at 20 watts) may be situated proximate a mid or low powertransmitter (e.g., pico cell, femto cell, etc., of varying transmissionpower, e.g., 1 watt). The higher power transmitter can be a significantsource of interference for the low power transmitters. Furthermore,depending on proximity of a receiver to the low power transmitter(s),significant interference for the high power transmitter can result aswell. Accordingly, signal interference in semi or un-plannedenvironments and/or heterogeneous transmit power environments can oftenbe a significant problem as compared with the conventional planned macrobase station AN.

In addition to the foregoing, restricted access (RA) BSs can compoundproblems resulting from semi and un-planned AP deployment. An RA BS canselectively provide access to one or more terminal devices. RA BSs canalso be termed private BSs, closed group stations or some similarterminology. An RA BS can be useful installed privately in a home, at anoffice, etc., that utilizes private networking resources of anindividual, business, or the like. Owners of such a BS might not wantthose resources being utilized by general access mobile users;accordingly, an RA BS can limit access to pre-specified terminaldevices, preserving resources for authorized users.

Un-planned, heterogeneous and RA deployments can lead to poorgeometrical conditions for a wireless AN. Even without restrictedassociation, a device that observes a very strong signal from a macro BScould prefer to connect to a pico BS, because the pico BS is “closer” tothe terminal in terms of path-loss. Thus, the pico BS is capable ofserving the terminal at a comparable data rate while causing lessinterference to the wireless AN. However, a terminal monitoring the picoBSs signal (e.g., a preamble comprising control and acquisitioninformation) will observe significant interference from the macro BS,resulting in a low signal to noise ratio (SNR) at the terminal (e.g.,possibly rendering the pico BS undetectable by the BS).

Additional problems result when an RA BS is introduced into the GA BSenvironment. In such a case, a terminal device can be very close to a BSto which it is not allowed to connect. Accordingly, this BS will causevery strong interference (and, e.g., resulting in very low SNR) for a BSserving the terminal (e.g., the closest BS the terminal is allowed toconnect to). In some cases, the interference can be so strong as todesensitize an analog to digital (A/D) converter of the terminal. Forinstance, components of the terminal can typically be set based on totalreceived signal plus an interference level (which, e.g., can bedominated by the RA BS in the above scenario). A signal level of theserving BS can be so low as to be below a quantization noise level. Inthis case, even if the interfering BS is present on different frequencyresources (e.g., a different sub-carrier or set of sub-carriers) thanthe serving BS, the interfering BS can still render the serving BSundetectable at the terminal, the latter being masked by quantizationnoise.

In order to alleviate some of the interference in heterogeneous ANs,some BSs can transmit at reduced power on one or more portions of thecommunication bandwidth of a wireless signal (or, e.g., transmit with nopower on, or blank, those portions). In some aspects of the disclosure,the portions of the communication bandwidth can comprise one or moretime frames, frequency sub-bands, and/or code sub-divisions of thewireless signal. As an example, an interlace of the wireless signal,which comprises every 'k^(th) time frame of the signal (e.g., every8^(th) frame can comprise an interlace in some systems), can be reservedor preferred for low power and/or RA BSs. Such BSs can transmit at fullpower on the reserved/preferred interlace. Other BSs, such as a macroand/or GA BS, can blank/transmit at reduced power on therestricted/preferred interlace, respectively. Accordingly, terminalswill observe little or no interference from at least the macro BS on therestricted/preferred interlace. This can provide a cell splittingbenefit since many more pico or femto BSs can use the same bandwidththat a single macro cell BS would otherwise use, improving data ratesavailable in the network.

A BS blanking portions of the communication bandwidth can, according tosome aspects of the disclosure, advertise portions of the wirelesssignal that are blanked or where reduced power transmission isimplemented. In one aspect, a bitmap can be broadcast in a preambleexplicitly indicating which portions (e.g., interlaces) areblanked/transmitted with reduced power. In another aspect, the BS canindicate a number of portions it reserves, where the specific portionsare implicitly understood by a terminal based on the number. Theadvertisement can be sent in a preamble of the wireless signal, so thatterminals can obtain the advertisement utilizing only sufficient powerrequired to monitor the preamble of the message.

In at least one aspect of the subject disclosure, a preamble of awireless signal (or, e.g., other data of the wireless signal wheresuitable) can be transmitted with low resource re-use (or low re-use),referred to as a low re-use preamble (or low re-use data transmission).As utilized herein, low resource re-use refers to employing only aportion of time, frequency, code and/or symbol-based resources of aparticular time cycle of a wireless signal. Thus, for instance, lowre-use can involve transmitting data on three or fewer of four frequencysub-bands associated with one time frame of the particular time cycle.Full re-use (or, e.g., non re-use), on the other hand, refers toemploying all resources of at least one time frame of the particulartime cycle (optionally excluding buffer frequencies utilized to reduceinterference in neighboring frequency channels). Thus, in the foregoingexample, full re-use employs all four of the frequency sub-bands totransmit the data

Another problem with heterogeneous wireless ANs is that terminals mightnot know what type of BS a received signal originates from. Thus, basedsolely on transmission parameters such as signal loss, interference,path loss, etc., to a RA BS, a terminal can choose to access a mobilenetwork via the RA BS. Significant time and signaling can be lostdetermining that the terminal does not, in fact, have authorization touse the RA BS, or only has limited authorization (e.g., limitedbandwidth, limited application accessibility, limited networkaccessibility, and so on). Accordingly, additional inefficiencies canresult when RA and GA BSs overlap in a wireless AN. To address thisproblem, a BS can transmit data indicating whether a transmitting BS isa GA or RA BS. The data can be included in a preamble of a wirelesssignal and can be utilized by a terminal in synchronizing with aparticular BS.

Further to the above, because RA BSs and small, low power GA BSs can bedeployed in an unplanned or semi-planned manner, large numbers of suchBSs can co-exist in a particular wireless AN (e.g., hundreds or eventhousands of such BSs can exist in densely populated areas). Forinstance, where individual home-owners set up personal RA BSs for theirhomes/apartments, similar to wireless local area network (WLAN) APs in aresidential area, a great number of such BSs can be seen by a terminalin the residential area (or, e.g., in a high-rise apartment complex). Asa result, overlap can occur in synchronization signals that typicallyinclude some data to distinguish APs of a wireless AN, leading to IDcollisions. To address this problem, a unique or semi-unique sector IDcan be incorporated into a preamble of a wireless signal. The terminalcan monitor the preamble to obtain the sector ID, and utilize such ID incell selection, handoff determinations, determining an active set ofBSs, or the like. As utilized herein, the term unique refers to a codeor other distinguishing identifier that is unique among all accesspoints of an operator's wireless network, optionally within the confinesof a particular state or country (e.g., so a code can optionally bere-used in different countries where the operator deploys networkinfrastructure, but not within the same state/country and within thesame operator's network). Semi-unique, on the other hand, refers to acode that is distinct at least among access points within a commonlocation area or routing area of a network, or distinct at least amongaccess points sharing a common frequency band employed by the wirelessnetwork.

As used in the subject disclosure, the terms “component,” “system,”“module” and the like are intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either hardware, software, software in execution, firmware,middle ware, microcode, and/or any combination thereof. For example, amodule can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, a device, and/or a computer. One or more modules can residewithin a process and/or thread of execution and a module can belocalized on one electronic device and/or distributed between two ormore electronic devices. Further, these modules can execute from variouscomputer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The modules can communicate by way of local and/or remote processes suchas in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g.,data from one component interacting with another component in a localsystem, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internetwith other systems by way of the signal). Additionally, components ormodules of systems described herein can be rearranged and/orcomplemented by additional components/modules/systems in order tofacilitate achieving the various aspects, goals, advantages, etc.,described with regard thereto, and are not limited to the preciseconfigurations set forth in a given figure, as will be appreciated byone skilled in the art.

Furthermore, various aspects are described herein in connection with auser terminal—UT. A UT can also be called a system, a subscriber unit, asubscriber station, mobile station, mobile, mobile communication device,mobile device, remote station, remote terminal, access terminal (AT),user agent (UA), a user device, or user equipment (UE). A subscriberstation can be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wirelessconnection capability, or other processing device connected to awireless modem or similar mechanism facilitating wireless communicationwith a processing device.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described can beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, orany suitable combination thereof. If implemented in software, thefunctions can be stored on or transmitted over as one or moreinstructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readablemedia includes both computer storage media and communication mediaincluding any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer programfrom one place to another. A storage media can be any physical mediathat can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer storage media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive . . . ), or any other medium that can be used tocarry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or datastructures and that can be accessed by a computer. In addition, anyconnection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example,if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remotesource using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

For a hardware implementation, the processing units' variousillustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described inconnection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented orperformed within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, general purpose processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. Ageneral-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, in thealternative, the processor can be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any othersuitable configuration. Additionally, at least one processor cancomprise one or more modules operable to perform one or more of thesteps and/or actions described herein.

Moreover, various aspects or features described herein can beimplemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques. Further, the stepsand/or actions of a method or algorithm described in connection with theaspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.Additionally, in some aspects, the steps and/or actions of a method oralgorithm can reside as at least one or any combination or set of codesand/or instructions on a machine-readable medium and/orcomputer-readable medium, which can be incorporated into a computerprogram product. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or media.

Additionally, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As usedin this application, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, orclear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of thenatural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; orX employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under anyof the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” asused in this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

As used herein, the terms to “infer” or “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

Referring now to the Figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a wirelesscommunication system 100 with multiple BSs 110 (e.g., wireless APs) andmultiple terminals 120 (e.g., UTs), such as can be utilized inconjunction with one or more aspects. A BS (110) is generally a fixedstation that communicates with the terminals and can also be called anaccess point, a Node B, or some other terminology. Each BS 110 providescommunication coverage for a particular geographic area or coveragearea, illustrated as three geographic areas in FIG. 1, labeled 102 a,102 b, and 102 c. The term “cell” can refer to a BS and/or its coveragearea depending on the context in which the term is used. To improvesystem capacity, a BS geographic area/coverage area can be partitionedinto multiple smaller areas (e.g., three smaller areas, according tocell 102 a in FIG. 1), 104 a, 104 b, and 104 c. Each smaller area (104a, 104 b, 104 c) can be served by a respective base transceiversubsystem (BTS). The term “sector” can refer to a BTS and/or itscoverage area depending on the context in which the term is used. For asectorized cell, the BTSs for all sectors of that cell are typicallyco-located within the base station for the cell. The transmissiontechniques described herein can be used for a system with sectorizedcells as well as a system with un-sectorized cells. For simplicity, inthe following description, unless specified otherwise, the term “basestation” is used generically for a fixed station that serves a sector aswell as a fixed station that serves a cell.

Terminals 120 are typically dispersed throughout the system, and eachterminal 120 can be fixed or mobile. Terminals 120 can also be called amobile station, user equipment, a user device, or some otherterminology, as describe above. A terminal 120 can be a wireless device,a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modemcard, and so on. Each terminal 120 can communicate with zero, one, ormultiple base stations 110 on the downlink (e.g., FL) and uplink (e.g.,RL) at any given moment. The downlink refers to the communication linkfrom the base stations to the terminals, and the uplink refers to thecommunication link from the terminals to the base stations.

For a centralized architecture, a system controller 130 couples to basestations 110 and provides coordination and control for BSs 110. For adistributed architecture, BSs 110 can communicate with one another asneeded (e.g., by way of a backhaul network communicatively coupling theBSs 110). Data transmission on the forward link often occurs from oneaccess point to one access terminal at or near the maximum data ratethat can be supported by the forward link and/or the communicationsystem. Additional channels of the forward link (e.g., control channel)can be transmitted from multiple access points to one access terminal.Reverse link data communication can occur from one access terminal toone or more access points.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an ad hoc or unplanned/semi-plannedwireless communication environment 200, in accordance with variousaspects. System 200 can comprise one or more BSs 202 in one or morecells and/or sectors that receive, transmit, repeat, etc., wirelesscommunication signals to each other and/or to one or more mobile devices204. As illustrated, each BS 202 can provide communication coverage fora particular geographic area, illustrated as four geographic areas,labeled 206 a, 206 b, 206 c and 206 d. Each BS 202 can comprise atransmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turncomprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmissionand reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators,demultiplexers, antennas, and so forth.), as will be appreciated by oneskilled in the art. Mobile devices 204 can be, for example, cellularphones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheldcomputing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs,and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless network200. System 200 can be employed in conjunction with various aspectsdescribed herein in order to facilitate providing and/or utilizingsynchronized wireless signal transmission in a wireless communicationenvironment (200), as set forth herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 300 comprising aheterogeneous AN according to aspects of the subject disclosure. Thesystem 300 comprises a transmission apparatus 302 that can configurewireless signals transmitted by one or more APs (310A, 310B, 310C, 310D)of the wireless AN. Specifically, the transmission apparatus 302 canconfigure a preamble of such wireless signals to include informationthat facilitates communication with devices (304) in the heterogeneousAN.

In one or more aspects of the subject disclosure, transmission apparatus302 can include a communication processor 206 that can generate apreamble for a wireless signal. The preamble can comprise networkoverhead information. Such information can include synchronizationsignals (e.g., primary synchronization channel [PSC] and secondarysynchronization channel [SSC], of a third generation partnership project[3GPP] long term evolution [LTE] system, PBCCH and SBCCH of an ultramobile broadband [UMB] system, or other synchronization/acquisitionsignals of other mobile network systems etc.), control channel signals(e.g., a forward primary broadcast control channel [F-PBCCH] and/or aforward secondary broadcast control channel [F-SBCCH] as used in a UMBsystem), and the like, suitable for a particular type of wireless AN(e.g., LTE, UMB, global system for mobile communication [GSM], universalmobile telecommunications system [UMTS], wideband code division multipleaccess [W-CDMA], and so on). Furthermore, transmission apparatus 302 caninclude a context module 308 that includes information pertinent to adistinct type of transmitting BS (310A, 310B, 31C, 310D) into thepreamble of the wireless signal. According to some aspects, theinformation can include data indicating an access type of thetransmitting BS 310A. For example, a bit can specify whether thetransmitting BS 310A is a GA BS or a RA BS. Accordingly, a receivingmobile device 304 can monitor the preamble of the wireless signal todetermine whether it should access the transmitting BS 310A. If the dataindicates the BS is GA, mobile device 304 can select the BS forcommunication. If the data indicates the BS is RA, mobile device 304 canattempt to access the BS 31A, obtain additional information, ignore theBS 310A (e.g., if the device 304 determines it is not authorized toaccess the RA BS), or other suitable actions.

In some aspects of the disclosure, context module 308 can include thedata identifying access type in an acquisition pilot of the wirelesssignal preamble (e.g., a TDM3 pilot of a UMB system) utilized totransmit system determination information. In other aspects, the datacan be included in control channel information incorporated in thepreamble (e.g., F-PBCCH, F-SBCCH, etc.). It should be appreciated,however, that the information identifying access type of thetransmitting BS can be incorporated into any suitable portion of thewireless signal preamble, as described herein or made known to one ofskill in the art by way of the context provided herein.

According to some aspects, the mobile device 304 can query thetransmitting BS 310A to determine whether the device 304 is authorizedto access the BS 310A. The query can submit ID information of the mobiledevice 304 to identify the device 304. Alternatively, or in addition,the query can request a closed access group (CAG) of an RA BS (310A) todetermine whether the mobile device 304 is authorized on the RA BS(310A). In some aspects, a response to the query can indicate the mobiledevice 304 is authorized, not authorized, or has limited access. Limitedaccess can include a ‘soft’ restriction, indicating that the mobiledevice 304 can obtain limited services from the RA BS (310A). Limitedservices can comprise, for instance, voice only service, limited datarates for data services, limited application support, limited networkaccess, and so forth. The query response from the RA BS (310A) can bebroadcast in a separate portion of the wireless signal preamble, orcommunicated to the mobile device 304 via unicast messaging.

According to one or more further aspects, context module 308 canincorporate a unique or semi-unique sector ID, as defined supra, of thetransmitting BS 310A with the information pertinent to the distinct typeof the BS (310A). The unique sector ID can uniquely identify the BS(310A) on the wireless AN, or on a service provider's entire network(optionally limited to a state or country—in such optional case, sectorID collisions can occur on the operator's network and still beclassified as unique, as utilized herein, so long as the collisions donot occur in the same state or country). A semi-unique sector ID can beany uniquely identify the BS (310A) within a location area or trackingarea of the wireless AN, or at least on a particular frequency bandemployed by the wireless AN.

The sector ID can be included in the preamble of the wireless signal todistinguish the transmitting BS 310A from numerous other BSs (310A,310B, 31C, 310D). For instance, where thousands of macro, micro, pico,femto and/or like BSs are included in a wireless AN, employing a typicalID for such BSs can result in ID collision for one or more of the BSs(e.g., where the typical ID comprises only dozens or a couple hundredunique instances). As one example, a 64-bit sector ID can be utilized asthe sector ID. It should be appreciated, however, that various other bitsizes can be employed within the scope of the subject disclosure.According to some aspects, the mobile device 304 can utilize the sectorID in mobility and communication functions, such as adding a sector toan active set, sending interference management requests, or otherfunctions that can require unique identification of a BS (310A, 310B,310C, 310D) in a wireless AN.

The sector ID can be incorporated into various portions of the wirelesssignal preamble. In some aspects, the wireless signal can be sizedappropriately to accommodate the sector ID. In other aspects, the sectorID can be modulated in portions of the wireless signal utilized forother preamble information. For instance, the ID can be transmitted inalternating preambles of alternating superframes of the wireless signal.As a particular example, a first superframe and preamble can includecontrol channel information (e.g., F-SBCCH) in a portion (e.g., frame)of the preamble and a second superframe and preamble can replace thecontrol channel information with the sector ID. Accordingly, a mobiledevice 304 can receive the control channel information and sector ID inalternating superframes of the wireless signal. It should be appreciatedthat another suitable modulation of control channel or like informationand the sector ID can be implemented within the scope of the subjectdisclosure.

In at least some aspects of the disclosure, the transmission apparatus302 can further include information identifying blanked portions of thewireless signal in the message preamble. For instance, where a macro BS(310D) blanks an interlace of the wireless signal to reduce or eliminateinterference with RA BSs on the interlace, timeline-based functions ofthe macro BS (310D) can be interrupted if the mobile device 304 expectsto obtain information in the blanked interlace. Such timeline-basedfunctions can include Automatic Repeat-reQuest (ARQ) functions, hybridARQ (HARQ) functions, and so on. Accordingly, the transmission apparatus302 can include a schedule of blanked frames, and identify such frames,enabling the mobile device 304 to recognize such frames and respondaccordingly.

As described, system 300 provides several improvements to OTA messagingto facilitate wireless communication in a heterogeneous wireless AN. Theimprovements can lead to efficient interaction with one or more GA or RABSs. Furthermore, by employing a preamble to transmit informationpertinent to BS type, ID and/or scheduling, mobile devices 304 canparticipate in such communications utilizing relatively littleprocessing (e.g., only processing required to analyze the messagepreamble). Such a configuration can reduce or minimize power consumptionat such devices 304 and extend battery life. Accordingly, significantbenefits are achieved by system 300 in a heterogeneous wireless AN.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 400 comprising atransmission apparatus 402 for configuring a wireless signal preambleaccording to additional aspects. The transmission apparatus can includeinformation pertinent to a distinct type of a transmitting BS, asdescribed herein. The information can include access type, unique BSidentity, scheduling information, and the like. Such information andrules for configuring/transmitting the information can be stored inmemory 406

The transmission apparatus can comprise a communication processor 404that generates a preamble for a wireless signal transmitted by a BS(414) of a wireless AN. In addition, a context module 412 can includethe information pertinent to the type of BS in the preamble. Accordingto some aspects, a context scheduler 408 can schedule at least a portionof the preamble into a time or frequency sub-slot of the wireless signalthat is (are) designated for a particular type of BS (414). Forinstance, an interlace reserved for RA and/or low/mid power GA BSs canbe employed if the transmitting BS (414) qualifies as such an RA or GABS. Furthermore, if the transmitting BS does not qualify as such BStype, context scheduler 408 can blank the reserved interlace andschedule the preamble into other portions of the wireless signal.

In some aspects, a message structure module 410 can identify a portionof the wireless signal reserved for transmission by a different type ofBS than the transmitting BS. As an example of the foregoing, if thetransmitting BS (e.g., macro GA BS) blanks a portion of the wirelesssignal (e.g., an interlace) reserved for BSs of a different type (e.g.,RA or mid/low power GA BSs) message structure module 410 can identifythe blanked portion in the preamble of the wireless signal. Accordingly,a mobile device observing the preamble can identify the blanked portion.In some aspects, the reserved portion of the wireless signal can beexplicitly identified in a bitmap. In other aspects, the reservedportion can be implicitly identified by indicating a number of timeslots and/or frequency sub-bands of the wireless signal comprising thereserved portion. A value of the number can implicitly identify whichtime slots/frequency sub-bands are included in the reserved portion.According to still other aspects, the message structure module 410 canidentify the reserved portion as part of the transmitting BSs controlchannel information, transmitted in the OTA preamble. In furtheraspects, the module 410 can replace a subset of the control channelinformation with the identifying information (e.g., bitmap, number ofreserved slots/sub-bands). In at least one other aspect, the module 410can include the identifying information in a segment of the wirelesssignal unassociated with control channel information of the BS.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the context module 412 can determinethe distinct type of the transmitting BS based at least in part on anaccess type of such BS. For example, if the BS is a GA or RA BS, the BStype can be determined as GA or RA (e.g., a personal femto BS).Alternatively, or in addition, the distinct type can be determined atleast in part on a default transmit power or sector size of the BS. Forinstance, if the BS serves a micro cell or pico cell, the BS can bedetermined as a micro or pico type BS. Likewise, where the BS transmitsat a default transmit power suitable for a micro or pico BS, the typecan be determined as a micro or pico type BS. The type of BS (e.g.,macro, micro, pico, femto, GA, RA, etc.) can be indicated utilizingsuitable information (e.g., 1-bit number, 3-bit number, and so forth)included in a preamble of a wireless signal.

In addition to the foregoing, system 400 can comprise a wirelesstransmitter 414 coupled to the transmission apparatus 402. Suchtransmitter 414 can be utilized at least to send a wireless signal(e.g., broadcast, unicast) to remote devices (e.g., a mobile terminal).The wireless transmitter 414 can comprise a modulator and wirelesstransceiver of a BS of a wireless AN. The wireless AN can be part of aUMB system, a third generation partnership project (3GPP) long-termevolution (LTE) system, a wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA) system, or any other suitable mobile communication accesssystem, as described herein, known in the art, or made known to one ofskill in the art by way of the context provided herein.

FIG. 5 depicts a sample block diagram 500 of example wireless signals502A, 502B comprising blanked portions (506A, 506B) according to someaspects of the disclosure. The blanked portions (506A, 506B), indicatedby shaded regions of the wireless signals 502A, 502B, can facilitatereduced interference in such portions of the wireless signal. Forexample, a particular type of BS (e.g., macro BS) can schedule no dataat such portions (506A, 506B) to reduce interference for low powerand/or RA BSs and enable such BSs to utilize the full bandwidth of suchportions (506A, 506B) of the messages 502A, 502B. In one aspect, theblanked portions (506A, 506B) can comprise a single interlace (e.g.,every eighth frame) of a wireless signal 502A, 502B. As describedherein, a BS can advertise which portions (506A, 506B) are blanked.

According to particular aspects of the subject disclosure, blankedportions 506A of a wireless signal 502A can be scheduled with a constantnumber of data portions (e.g., frames 504) in between. In other aspects,the blanked portions 506B can be bundled at an end of one interlace andbeginning of another interlace, as depicted at wireless signal 502B. Inthe latter case, timeline-based functions (e.g., ARQ, HARQ) can bemaintained in consecutive portions of the wireless signal, for instance,prior to and subsequent the bundled blanked portions 506B. In eitherarrangement, location of blanked frames can be implicitly or explicitlydefined in data included in a preamble of the wireless signals 502A,502B to inform receiving devices of the arrangement. By including suchinformation in the wireless signal preamble, minimal processing powercan be expended by the receiving devices in order to obtain suchinformation, facilitating efficient wireless communications.

FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of an example system 600 comprising abase station 602 configured for a heterogeneous AN and one or more ATs604 (e.g., mobile devices) according to aspects of the subjectdisclosure. Base station 602 can be configured to facilitate efficientcommunication with the AT(s) 604 in conjunction with other BSs (notdepicted) of varying transmit power and/or access configurations. Forinstance, base station 602 can be configured to schedule preambleinformation identifying a particular type of the base station 602. Thetype can include general or restricted access, cell size, unique cellID, particular scheduling information, or the like.

Base station 602 (e.g., access point, . . . ) can comprise a receiver610 that receives signal(s), and wireless signals from one or more ATs604 through one or more receive antennas 606, and a transmitter 626 thattransmits coded/modulated wireless signals provided by modulator 624 tothe one or more ATs 604 through a transmit antenna(s) 608. Receiver 610can receive information from receive antennas 606 and can furthercomprise a signal recipient (not shown) that receives uplink datatransmitted by AT(s) 604. Additionally, receiver 610 is operativelyassociated with a demodulator 612 that demodulates received information.Demodulated symbols are analyzed by a communication processor 614.Communication processor 614 is coupled to a memory 616 that storesinformation related to functions provided by base station 602. In oneinstance, stored information can comprise protocols for parsing wirelesssignals and scheduling forward link (FL) and RL transmissions to one ormore time and/of frequency sub-divisions of a signal. Particularly, thestored information can comprise rules for scheduling preambleinformation into a predetermined portion of a wireless signal, blankingone or more other portions of the wireless signal, identifying adistinct type of BS in the preamble, providing access information, orthe like, as described herein.

According to some aspects, communication processor 614 can generate amessage preamble for wireless signals comprising at least networkoverhead information (e.g., synchronization signals, control channelinformation). In addition, communication processor 614 can be coupled toa context module 618 that can include information pertinent to adistinct type of the BS into the preamble generated by the communicationprocessor 614, as described herein. Such information can include abit(s) identifying access type (e.g., RA, GA) of the BS and/or transmitpower or cell size of the BS (e.g., macro, micro, pico, femto). Theinformation can further comprise a sector ID utilized to identify thebase station 602 among a large number of other base stations in awireless AN, or on a service provider's network. In addition, theinformation can include scheduling arrangements suitable for successfulcommunication in a heterogeneous wireless AN.

Communication processor 614 can additionally be coupled with a messagestructure module 620 that identifies portions of a wireless signaltransmitted by the base station 602 that are reserved for transmissionby different types of BSs, as described herein. Identification can beexplicit (e.g., employing a bitmap that identifies a location and/ortime slot/frequency sub-band) or implicit (e.g., comprising a number ofsuch portions), and can be included in control channel portions of thewireless signal preamble. Moreover, communication processor 614 can becoupled with a context scheduler 622 that schedules one or more portionsof the wireless signal preamble into segments of the message designatedfor a type of the base station 602. For instance, the preamble can bescheduled to a portion of the message designated for RA BSs if the basestation is a RA BS. By including information identifying a type of thebase station 602 in the wireless signal preamble, AT(s) 604 candetermine whether to access the base station 602, how to obtain andrespond to timeline-based functions, and how to identify the basestation 602, simply by analyzing the preamble. Accordingly, suchinformation originated from large numbers of such base stations 602 in aheterogeneous wireless AN can be analyzed with minimal processing powerat the AT(s) 604.

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an example system 700 comprising amobile terminal 702 configured to facilitate improved communication in aheterogeneous AN. Mobile terminal 702 can be configured to wirelesslycouple with one or more base stations 704 (e.g., access point) of awireless AN. Mobile terminal 702 can receive wireless signals from thebase station 704 on a FL channel and respond with wireless signals on aRL channel, as known in the art. In addition, mobile terminal 702 canobtain preamble information transmitted by the base station 704 byscanning selected portions of a wireless signal, based on a type (e.g.,transmission power, GA, RA) of the base station 704. In addition, mobileterminal 702 can extract information identifying a distinct type of thebase station 704 from the preamble. In some aspects, mobile terminal 702can utilize the information to obtain an access status of the mobileterminal 702 with respect to the base station 704.

Mobile terminal 702 includes at least one antenna 706 (e.g., atransmission receiver or group of such receivers comprising an inputinterface) that receives a signal (e.g., an over-the-air [OTA]transmission) and receiver(s) 708, which performs typical actions (e.g.,filters, amplifies, down-converts, etc.) on the received signal. Ingeneral, antenna 706 and transmitter 726 (collectively referred to as atransceiver) can be configured to facilitate wireless data exchange withbase station(s) 704. According to at least some aspects, a dataprocessor(s) 712 can scan one or more portions of a received message fora message preamble. The data processor(s) 712 can extract informationfrom the preamble to identify a distinct type of the BS 704.

Antenna 706 and receiver(s) 708 can also be coupled with the demodulator710 that can demodulate received symbols and provide them to dataprocessor(s) 712 for evaluation. It should be appreciated that dataprocessor(s) 712 can control and/or reference one or more components(706, 708, 710, 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, 724, 726) of the mobileterminal 702. Further, data processor(s) 712 can execute one or moremodules, applications, engines, or the like (714, 718, 720, 722) thatcomprise information or controls pertinent to executing functions of themobile terminal 702. For instance, such functions can include scanningreceived wireless signals for a type of the base station 704, identityof the base station 704, and/or channel scheduling of the base station704. In addition, functions can include accessing a base station 704,including the base station 704 in an active set, querying the basestation 704 for an access status, or like operations, as describedherein.

Mobile terminal 702 can additionally include memory 716 that isoperatively coupled to data processor(s) 712. Memory 716 can store datato be transmitted, received, and the like, and instructions suitable toconduct wireless communication with a remote device (704). Further,memory 716 can store the modules, applications, engines, etc. (714, 718,720, 722) executed by processor(s) 712, above. According to someaspects, antenna(s) 706 can obtain a wireless signal from a sector (704)of a wireless AN. Data processor(s) 712 can scan portion of the wirelesssignal to obtain a message preamble and type identifying information ofthe base station 704. For instance, the data processor(s) 712 candetermine whether base station 704 is a RA BS, GA BS, or limited access(LA) BS, at least in part from the type identifying information. In thelatter case, where the base station 704 is determined to be restricted,a query module 718 can employ a unicast message to obtain an accessstatue of mobile terminal 702 from the base station 704. The status cancomprise information indicating whether the mobile terminal 704 isincluded within a CAG. Alternatively, or in addition, a response to theunicast message can comprise the CAG. In such case, data processor(s)712 can determine whether mobile terminal 702 is included within the CAGof the base station 704. An access module 714 can activate the basestation 704 based at least in part on the distinct type of the basestation 704 (e.g., if mobile terminal 702 is included within the CAG).

According to additional aspects, data processor(s) 712 can extract asector ID from the preamble of the wireless signal. The sector ID canuniquely identify the base station 704 in a particular tracking area orlocation area of a service provider's network, or on a particularfrequency band employed by such network (e.g., a semi-unique sector ID,as defined herein), or can uniquely identify base station 704 among allother such base stations on a service provider's network in general(e.g., a unique ID, as defined herein). Additionally, a communicationquality module 720 can submit the sector ID in conjunction with arequest to reduce interference. For example, if signals from basestation 704 are causing interference for mobile terminal 702, the sectorID can be submitted in conjunction with a resource utilization message(RUM) requesting reduction of transmit power on one or more channelresources utilized by the mobile terminal 702. In other aspects, ahandoff module 722 can add the sector ID to an active set of BSs managedby the mobile terminal 702. Furthermore, the sector ID can be alsoutilized in implementing a handoff determination (e.g., to or from thebase station 704).

According to one or more further aspects, data processor(s) 712 can scanalternating preambles of the wireless signal to obtain differentinformation. For instance, where the information identifying the type ofbase station 704 is modulated with other information (e.g., controlchannel information), the identifying information can be monitored in,for instance, odd numbered preambles, and other information can beacquired in even numbered preambles. In at least one aspect, schedulinginformation pertaining to a heterogeneous wireless AN can be extractedfrom the preamble(s) of the wireless signal. For instance, informationidentifying blanked segments of the wireless signal can be identified.In one aspect, demodulator 710 can decode a bitmap identifying theseblanked segments. In other aspects, data processor(s) 712 can implicitlydetermine the blanked segments from a specified number of such segments,by reference to a lookup table mapping the number to particular segmentsof the wireless signal, for example. By identifying blanked segments,timeline-based functions can be analyzed with respect to other segmentsof the wireless signal, such as those segments preceding and/orfollowing the blanked segments.

The aforementioned systems have been described with respect tointeraction between several components, modules and/or communicationinterfaces. It should be appreciated that such systems andcomponents/modules/interfaces can include those components orsub-components specified therein, some of the specified components orsub-components, and/or additional components. For example, a systemcould include transmission apparatus 402, transmitter 414, and mobiledevice 304, or a different combination of these and other components.Sub-components could also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents. Additionally, it should be noted that one or more componentscould be combined into a single component providing aggregatefunctionality. For instance, communication processor 306 can includecontext module 308, or vice versa, to facilitate generating a preambleand including information identifying BS type into the preamble by wayof a single component. The components can also interact with one or moreother components not specifically described herein but known by those ofskill in the art.

Furthermore, as will be appreciated, various portions of the disclosedsystems above and methods below may include or consist of artificialintelligence or knowledge or rule based components, sub-components,processes, means, methodologies, or mechanisms (e.g., support vectormachines, neural networks, expert systems, Bayesian belief networks,fuzzy logic, data fusion engines, classifiers . . . ). Such components,inter alia, and in addition to that already described herein, canautomate certain mechanisms or processes performed thereby to makeportions of the systems and methods more adaptive as well as efficientand intelligent.

In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter will bebetter appreciated with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 8-11.While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies areshown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood andappreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the orderof the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and describedherein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required toimplement the methodologies described hereinafter. Additionally, itshould be further appreciated that the methodologies disclosedhereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of beingstored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting andtransferring such methodologies to computers. The term article ofmanufacture, as used, is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device, device in conjunction witha carrier, or storage medium.

FIGS. 8 and 8A illustrate flowcharts of example methodologies 800,800Afor providing improved wireless communication in heterogeneous APnetworks. Method 800, at 802, can generate a preamble for an OTAcommunication message, where such preamble contains at least networkoverhead information. Additionally, at 804, method 800 can includeinformation pertinent to a distinct type of a transmitting BS into thepreamble. The information can include an access type of the BS, a sectorID of the BS, scheduling information of the BS, or the like, asdescribed herein. In some aspects, the access type can indicate a GA orRA type of BS, or sector size/transmit power of the BS. In particularaspects, the access type can further include a CAG of the BS, enablingreceiving devices to identify whether they are authorized to access theBS. Accordingly, information utilized to facilitate communication in aheterogeneous wireless AN, or reduce interference in such AN, can beobtained by monitoring the preamble of the wireless signal, minimizingprocessing power of terminals communication with APs of the wireless AN.

Method 800A, at 802A, can establish a set of wireless signal resourcesreserved for BSs other than a BS transmitting the wireless signal. Suchresources can include suitable time, frequency, code, signal or likeresources, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the reserved resourcescan be full re-use resources (e.g., where a single set of data istransmitted on the established resource) or fractional re-use resources(e.g., employing subsets of an established resource for communicating aset of data, rather than all of a particular resource, enabling multipleBSs to transmit data on the established resource, for instance).According to some aspects, the transmitting BS can be configured totransmit with reduced power on the reserved set of resources, or blanksuch resources (e.g., transmit with no power).

At 804A, method 800A can transmit data identifying the set of reservedresources on the wireless signal. Accordingly, terminals receiving thesignal can identify resources that the transmitting BS will blank, orwill transmit with reduced power on. The terminals can utilize thereserved resources when served by a BS other than the transmitting BS(or, e.g., a BS of a different access type, transmit power type, re-usetype, or other suitable BS type, from the transmitting BS) forinterference management or mobility management. As an example, aterminal could inform a serving BS of the blanked resources. The servingBS can then schedule high QoS data on the reserved resources for reducedinterference from the transmitting BS. Additionally, the serving BS canlower transmit power on such resources as a result of the reducedinterference, reducing interference caused by the serving BS to othernearby terminals.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of a sample methodology 900 for providing BStype information in message preamble to improve reliability in wirelesscommunications. At 902, method 900 can provide indicia identifying atype of a transmitting BS into a preamble of a wireless signal. At 904,method 900 can optionally schedule at least a portion of the preamble ina frame of the wireless signal specifically designated for the type ofthe transmitting BS. For instance, the preamble or portion thereof canbe scheduled into a frame or frames designated for RA BSs, GA BSs,low/mid power BSs, or the like. Such an arrangement can significantlyreduce interference for remote devices at least on the designatedportion(s) of the wireless signal.

At 906, method 900 can incorporate data into the preamble thatidentifies a BS access type, transmit power type or re-use type. Forinstance, the data can indicate whether the BS is a RA or GA BS.Alternatively, or in addition, the data can indicate whether the BS is amacro, micro, pico, or femto BS, or whether the BS employs full re-useor fractional re-use. In additional aspects, the data can furthercomprise information indicating what devices are eligible to access theBS, reducing signaling required by a mobile terminal in determiningaccess authorization.

At 908, method 900 can incorporate unique or semi-unique sector IDinformation (as defined herein) in the preamble data. The sector ID canbe scheduled in a particular portion of the preamble designated for suchinformation, can be modulated with other information (e.g., controlchannel information) in one or more preambles of the wireless signal, orthe like, as described herein. The sector ID data can facilitatemobility determinations (e.g., handoff, active set management, etc.)and/or interference reduction (e.g., RUM messages) in a heterogeneouswireless AN, comprising few or many APs.

At 910, method 900 can identify a portion of the wireless signalreserved for BSs of a type different than the transmitting BS. Forinstance, the preamble can indicate certain portions of the wirelesssignal that are blanked by the transmitting BS. Such indication can becontained in a bitmap explicitly identifying such portion(s) of thewireless signal, or one or more bits indicating a number of suchportions, as described herein. As described, method 900 can facilitateefficient wireless communication in heterogeneous networks, by includingthe type information in the preamble message typically monitored bynearby mobile devices.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a sample methodology 1000 foraccessing BS type information in a wireless signal according to someaspects disclosed herein. At 1002, method 1000 can obtain a wirelesssignal from a sector of a wireless AN. At 1004, method 1000 can scan oneor more portions of the wireless signal for system data. At 1006, method1000 can extract information from the system data that identifies anaccess type, unique or semi-unique sector ID, or reserved signalresources pertinent to a BS that originates the wireless signal. Theaccess type can be utilized to determine whether access to the BS ispermitted, prior to signaling the BS for such access. Furthermore, thedistinct type information can be utilized to identify the BS in awireless AN, for mobility and/or interference management purposes, forinstance. Additionally, information extracted from the system data canbe utilized to infer scheduling protocols, such as blanked portions ofthe wireless signal or portions transmitted at reduced power. Suchscheduling protocols can be employed in managing mobility, interferenceavoidance, or in some aspects, timeline-based functions of the wirelessAN (e.g., HARQ functions), as described herein.

FIG. 11 depicts a flowchart of an example methodology 1100 for accessingand utilizing BS type information in a wireless signal according tofurther aspects. At 1102, method 1100 can extract BS type informationfrom a preamble of a received wireless signal. At 1104, method 1100 canaccess the BS in part based on the BS type information. For instance,where the type information indicates the BS is a GA BS, authorization toaccess to the BS can be inferred. Where the type information indicatesthe BS is a RA BS, authorization to access can be determined at areceiving device, or additional signaling with the BS can be conductedto determine such authorization.

At 1106, method 1100 can query the BS for an access status. A result ofthe query can indicate authorization status, or degree of authorization.For instance, degree can indicate no authorization, full authorization,or limited authorization. In the latter case, authorization can belimited to a particular type of communication (e.g., voice only),particular data rate, particular application usage, particular networkaccess, and/or the like.

At 1108, method 1100 can obtain a unique or semi-unique sector ID fromthe preamble. The sector ID can be utilized in mobility managementand/or interference management, as described herein. At 1110, method1100 can identify a portion of the wireless signal blanked by atransmitting BS. Blanked portions can be utilized to monitor other BSswith reduced interference, for instance. In other aspects, the blankedportions can be identified and managed in conjunction withtimeline-based functions of the BS.

At 1112, method 1100 can employ the blanked portion in mobility orinterference management. For instance, terminals can handoff to aserving BS employing resources that are blanked or transmitted atreduced power by the BS, due to the lower interference on thoseresources. As another example, a terminal can report the blanked portionto a current serving BS in conjunction with interference management(e.g., to switch to the blanked resources). As described, method 1100can facilitate efficient communication with wireless APs by identifyinga type of AP from a message preamble and interacting, or refraining tointeract, with the AP in a manner suited to the type.

FIGS. 12 and 12A illustrate block diagrams of example systems 1200,1200A that provide improved wireless communications according to someaspects of the subject disclosure. System 1200 can comprise a means 1202for generating a preamble of a wireless signal. In addition, system 1200can comprise a means 1204 for including BS type information into thepreamble. The type information can comprise an access type of the BS, aswell as information identifying devices authorized to access the BS.Further, the information can comprise ID information uniquelyidentifying the BS among large numbers of other BSs in a wireless AN, ormultiple wireless ANs, or other BSs of a provider's network. Moreover,the information can comprise scheduling information utilized intype-specific communications designed to reduce interference in awireless AN for various type BSs (e.g., RA and GA BSs, high power andlow power BSs, and so on.

System 1200A can comprise a means 1202A for establishing a set ofresources of a wireless signal that are reserved for a BS other than aBS transmitting the wireless signal. Alternatively, the resources can bereserved for a type of BS different than a type of the transmitting BS(e.g., a different transmit power type, access type, re-use type).According to some aspects, the transmitting BS, or BSs having a commontransmit power, re-use or access type, can be configured to blank ortransmit at reduced power on the reserved resources. In addition to theforegoing, system 1200A can comprise a means 1204A for including datawithin the wireless signal that identifies the reserved resources. Thedata can be included in system data that is generally accessible toterminals in range of the transmitting BS. In some aspects, the data canbe included in a preamble of the wireless signal, optionally a re-usepreamble.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of a sample system 1300 thataccesses and utilizes BS type information in preamble messaging toimprove wireless data exchange. System 1300 can comprise a means 1302for obtaining a wireless signal. Such means 1302 can comprise a wirelessantenna, receiver, demodulator, processor(s), memory, and/or likecomponents suitable for receiving and interpreting the wireless signalin a wireless communication environment. Furthermore, system 1300 cancomprise a means 1304 for scanning portions of the wireless signal. Themeans 1304 can comprise instructions for identifying a preamble of thewireless signal from the scanned portions. Furthermore, system 1300 canadditionally comprise a means 1306 for extracting information from thepreamble of the wireless signal. In some aspects, the means 1306 can beconfigured to selectively extract information identifying a type of BStransmitting the wireless signal. In other aspects, the means 1306 canbe configured to selectively extract a unique or semi-unique sector ID(as defined herein) of the transmitting BS from the preamble. Accordingto further aspects, the means 1306 can be configured to selectivelyextract scheduling information pertaining to blanked portions of thewireless signal, or portions designated for a BS of a particular type,or the like. In one or more other aspects, the means 1306 can beconfigured to extract a combination of the foregoing information.

What has been described above includes examples of aspects of theclaimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in theart may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of thedisclosed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the disclosedsubject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms“includes,” “has” or “having” are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: generating a preamblefor a wireless signal, the preamble comprises network overheadinformation pertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; andincluding information within the preamble that provides a unique orsemi-unique sector ID for the BS.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting the information over a low re-use preamble. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the semi-unique sector ID comprises acode that is unique for a location area, routing area or frequency bandof a wireless access network (AN).
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a signal from a terminal served by thetransmitting BS, the signal includes a unique or semi-unique sector IDof a sector neighboring the transmitting BS; and identifying aneighboring BS within at least the acquisition range of the macro BSassociated with the neighboring sector ID.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising: obtaining relative signal strengths of the sectorand neighboring sector from the terminal; and employing the relativesignal strengths to facilitate a handoff determination.
 6. The method ofclaim 4, further comprising: obtaining a signal quality metric of asignal that includes the neighboring sector ID; and employing theneighboring sector ID to contact the neighboring BS and facilitateinterference management based at least in part on the signal qualitymetric.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising employing a networkbackhaul link to contact the neighboring BS.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising including information within the preamble thatindicates at least one of: a distinct type of the transmitting BS; or aset of signal resources that are blanked or transmitted at reduced powerby the transmitting BS.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the uniquesector ID is distinct among all BSs providing wireless access to anoperator's mobile network.
 10. An apparatus of wireless communication,comprising: a communication processor that generates a preamble for awireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead informationpertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; a context modulethat includes information within the preamble that provides a unique orsemi-unique sector ID for the BS; and memory coupled to thecommunication processor.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, the contextmodule transmits the information over a low re-use preamble.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the semi-unique sector ID is distinctamong sectors sharing a common location area, routing area or frequencyband of a wireless AN.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprisinga wireless receiver that obtains, from a terminal served by thetransmitting BS, a signal comprising a unique or semi-unique sector IDof a BS neighboring the transmitting BS and at least one of: relativesignal strengths of the transmitting BS and neighboring BS; or a signalquality metric of a signal initiated by the neighboring BS.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the communication processor employs therelative signal strengths to facilitate a handoff determination for theterminal.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the communicationprocessor employs the neighboring sector ID to contact the neighboringBS and facilitate interference management based at least in part on thesignal quality metric.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein thecommunication processor employs a network backhaul link to contact theneighboring BS.
 17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the contextmodule includes information within the preamble that indicates at leastone of: a distinct type of the transmitting BS; or a set of signalresources that are blanked or transmitted at reduced power by thetransmitting BS.
 18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the uniquesector ID is distinct at least among BSs providing wireless access to anoperator's mobile network.
 19. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: means for generating a preamble for a wireless signal, thepreamble comprises network overhead information pertinent to a BStransmitting the wireless signal; and means for including informationwithin the preamble that provides a unique or semi-unique sector ID forthe BS.
 20. At least one processor for wireless communication,comprising: a first module configured to generate a preamble for awireless signal, the preamble comprises network overhead informationpertinent to a BS transmitting the wireless signal; and a second moduleconfigured to include information within the preamble that provides aunique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.
 21. A computer programproduct, comprising: a computer readable medium, comprising: a first setof codes for causing a computer to generate a preamble for a wirelesssignal, the preamble comprises network overhead information pertinent toa BS transmitting the wireless signal; and a second set of codes forcausing a computer to include information within the preamble thatprovides a unique or semi-unique sector ID for the BS.
 22. A method ofimplementing wireless communication, comprising: obtaining a wirelesssignal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN; scanning one or moreportions of the wireless signal for system data; and extracting a uniqueor semi-unique sector ID from the system data.
 23. The method of claim22, further comprising: analyzing a portion of the wireless signalspecifying an access type of the non-serving sector to determine whetherthe non-serving sector is a restricted access sector; and employing thesector ID to determine whether a terminal is authorized to access suchrestricted access sector.
 24. The method of claim 22, further comprisingat least one of: employing the unique sector ID to distinguish thenon-serving sector from other sectors of the wireless AN; or employingthe semi-unique sector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector fromother sectors sharing a common location area, routing area or frequencyband with the non-serving sector.
 25. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising obtaining a second wireless signal that comprises a unique orsemi-unique sector ID of a sector neighboring the non-serving sector.26. The method of claim 25, further comprising comparing signal strengthof the neighboring sector to signal strength of the non-serving sector.27. The method of claim 26, further comprising employing the neighboringsector ID to initiate a handoff to the neighboring sector based on thesignal strength comparison.
 28. The method of claim 25, furthercomprising determining a level of interference at the non-serving sectorcaused by the second wireless signal.
 29. The method of claim 28,further comprising employing the neighboring sector ID to initiateinterference reduction with the neighboring sector.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, employing the neighboring sector ID to initiate interferencereduction further comprises at least one of: transmitting aninterference reduction request that comprises the sector ID over the air(OTA) to the neighboring sector; or relaying the interference reductionrequest via a serving sector over a backhaul network coupling theserving sector with the neighboring sector.
 31. The method of claim 22,further comprising extracting from the wireless signal at least one ofthe following: information identifying a distinct type of BS associatedwith the non-serving sector; or a set of wireless signal resourcesreserved for transmission by a particular type of BS, wherein othertypes of BSs blank or transmit with reduced power on the reserved set ofresources.
 32. The method of claim 22, further comprising extracting thesystem data and system ID from a preamble of the wireless signal. 33.The method of claim 22, further comprising identifying the non-servingsector based at least in part on transmission of the sector ID over alow re-use preamble.
 34. The method of claim 22, wherein the sector IDis unique at least among BSs providing wireless access to an operator'smobile network.
 35. An apparatus configured to implement wirelesscommunication, comprising: a receiver that obtains a wireless signalfrom a non-serving sector of a wireless AN; and a data processor thatscans one or more portions of the wireless signal for system data andextracts a unique or semi-unique sector ID from such data.
 36. Theapparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor: employs a data bit ofthe wireless signal specifying an access type of the non-serving sectorto determine whether the non-serving sector is a restricted accesssector; and further employs the distinct sector ID to determine whethera terminal is authorized to access such restricted access sector. 37.The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processor employs the uniquesector ID to distinguish the non-serving sector from other sectors ofthe wireless AN.
 38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the dataprocessor employs the semi-unique sector ID to distinguish thenon-serving sector from other sectors sharing a common location area,routing area or frequency band with the non-serving sector.
 39. Theapparatus of claim 35, wherein the receiver obtains a second wirelesssignal from a sector neighboring the non-serving sector, the neighboringsector is identified via a neighboring sector ID.
 40. The apparatus ofclaim 39, further comprising a handoff module that compares signalstrength of the neighboring sector to signal strength of the non-servingsector.
 41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the handoff moduleemploys the sector ID to initiate a handoff to the neighboring sectorbased on the signal strength comparison.
 42. The apparatus of claim 41,further comprising a quality module that determines a level ofinterference at the non-serving sector caused by the second wirelesssignal.
 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the quality moduleemploys the neighboring sector ID to initiate interference reductionwith the neighboring sector based on the level of interference.
 44. Theapparatus of claim 43, further comprising a transmitter that sendswireless signals to facilitate wireless communication, wherein thequality module employs the transmitter to implement the interferencereduction by at least one of: transmitting an interference reductionrequest that comprises the sector ID OTA to the neighboring sector; orrelays the interference reduction request via a serving sector over abackhaul network coupling the serving sector with the neighboringsector.
 45. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the data processorextracts from the wireless signal at least one of the following:information identifying a distinct type of BS associated with thenon-serving sector; or a set of wireless signal resources reserved for aparticular type of BS, wherein other types of BSs blank or transmit withreduced power on the reserved set of resources.
 46. The apparatus ofclaim 35, wherein the system data is transmitted on a preamble of thewireless signal.
 47. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the dataprocessor identifies the non-serving sector at least in part based ontransmission of the sector ID over a low re-use preamble.
 48. Anapparatus for implementing wireless communication, comprising: means forobtaining a wireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN;means for scanning one or more portions of the wireless signal forsystem data; and means for extracting a unique or semi-unique sector IDfrom the system data.
 49. A processor for implementing wirelesscommunication, comprising: a first module configured to obtain awireless signal from a non-serving sector of a wireless AN; a secondmodule configured to scan one or more portions of the wireless signalfor system data; and a third module configured to extract a unique orsemi-unique sector ID from the system data.
 50. A computer programproduct, comprising: a computer readable medium, comprising: a first setof codes for causing a computer to obtain a wireless signal from anon-serving sector of a wireless AN; a second set of codes for causing acomputer to scan one or more portions of the wireless signal for systemdata; and a third set of codes for causing a computer to extract aunique or semi-unique sector ID from the system data.